1936 Weak

Alex moved. He immediately flew toward Tai Guidao in the sky, trying to get a pill out in time to help him.

However, before he could arrive, 3 Elders flew from either side, immediately stopping him from moving any further.

"No disciple is allowed to help someone else when they are consuming poison," one of the three elders said. They quoted one of the major rules of the sect back at Alex.

If someone was dying of poison, you weren't allowed to save their life.

Alex tried to force his way past the elders but was incapable of going against them. Each one of the Elders was far above Alex in the Immortal realm, and thus not someone he could so easily defeat.

Alex looked past them at Tai Guidao, trying to understand what poison he had been fed. Hell, did he even have anything to heal him at the moment?

There was no chance Tai Guidao had been fed some simple poison that could be defeated with just any pill one could find. No doubt, it was a special poison that needed a special antidote.

Alex needed to know what the poison even was to figure out if he had a pill like that. He was fully intent on finding out.

However, when he was about to act, he saw the three Sect Masters move through the sky and come down toward him.

"Do you intend to defy the rules of this sect, disciple?" one of the triplets asked.

Alex remained still, looking at the sect masters and also at Tai Guidao behind them in the sky.

Tai Guidao frantically moved around, flailing as life was squeezed out of him by the poison. He quickly fell from the sky, unable to move anymore, with white fuzz dripping from the sky of his mouth.

He struck the ground hard and began struggling in the ground to hold onto what little life he had.

Alex couldn't bear to watch it. It was too horrifying to look at.

Instead, he stared at the three emotionless monsters that stood before him and glared at them.

The Sect Masters looked back at him, as if not concerned about the hatred they could see in his eyes for them. They did not care.

What was a single disciple's anger worth to them?

The three sect masters suddenly looked away after a moment and flew away. Alex was a little surprised to see them leave, and only realized a second later why that was.

Beyond them, in the distance where he had fallen, Tai Guidao remained immobile. All life had been drawn out from him, and what was left was a corpse with wide eyes that stared toward him, with a hand reaching out in plea.

A plea for help, a plea for survival.

Alex shuddered when seeing that.

Images flashed in his mind. Images of the time when he held his master in his embrace, with her dying of poison, and him being unable to help her.

Once again, someone else died of poison, and all he could do was watch.

Why was this happening? Why was someone like Tai Guidao attacked? Was it… was it because he had helped Alex throughout the year, by working as a bodyguard?

Alex stared at the woman in the sky, watching her smug smile. He stared at the Elder who handed Tai Guidao the poison and saw the remorseless look on his face.

He stared at the back of the 3 Sect Masters who moved back into position.

Alex hated every single one of them. He hated this very sect.

The assembly resumed, as though the death of a disciple was nothing more than an inconvenience that had now passed. Names were called and people followed to pick their poison.

Alex hated this too, but he had seen this enough in the past 4 years to know that this was how everything worked in this place

Alex finally moved from where he was, slowly moving forward. Even as he moved, he couldn't help but wonder why all of this had happened.

Why? Why did Tai Guidao have to die? He hadn't offended anyone. All he did throughout the year was be Alex's bodyguard.

Was that it? Was the reason for his death all so the woman could have Alex all by himself?

Such thoughts only made him even angrier. Tai Guidao was killed because he was nothing more than a little nuisance.

Alex truly hated everything about this place.

He moved toward Tai Guidao, arriving close to him. Now that he was dead, there was no rule for someone to use to stop him from approaching him.

Just as he got to him, however, two Elders appeared out of nowhere and put Tai Guidao's corpse on a stretcher.

"Wait, stop!"

They didn't. They left before Alex could say anything else, flying away from the valley. Just like every time a disciple died of poison, the corpse was cleared within seconds.

'Where are they going?' Alex thought. 'Where are they taking his corpse?'

Tai Guidao had no family. So, if nothing else, as someone who had come to be very close to the man, he wanted to be the one to perform his funeral.

But, he was taken away before he could even request such a thing.

Where exactly was the corpse being taken to anyway? So far as Alex understood, there was no graveyard in the sect anywhere. Was it outside of the sect?

Would he even be able to visit that place?

Alex wasn't sure what he was to do anymore, so all he could do was stay where he was and let the reality of the situation permeate through him.

Tai Guidao had died, surrounded by members of his sect. His last action was to reach out to Alex for help, only to receive none in return.

This fact haunted Alex.

He had become an Immortal after years and years of cultivation, only to once again be too weak to save someone he wanted to save. He needed to become stronger than this.

Much stronger.

Time flew by in moments while Alex was lost in his thoughts. Before he realized what was happening, he heard his name being called out.

He looked to the sky and saw the same Elder from last time looking at him, waiting for him to go up there.

Alex felt anger surge inside of him once again. He had been worried about what he was going to do when this happened for so long today, but now… it just didn't matter.

He flew up to the sky and arrived before the Elder.

"What poison would you—"

"What the fuck does it matter?" Alex sent a message into the Elder's mind. "Give me what you are going to give me anyway."

The Elder paused for a second, a look of confusion and wariness coming upon him all of a sudden. "You must name the poison you wish to—"

"Nether Ice Immortal Poison," Alex answered. "That is what I will consume today."

The Elder's eyes widened this time as he looked around, trying to get some help in the situation.

"Give it to him," the First Elder spoke from the side. "If he wishes to die along with his friend today, let his wishes come true."